'Sangamam' of spirituality and sangita

A CERTAIN amount of meditative austerity is called for to visualise the deeper levels of Carnatic music. This experience can be gained by a musician only when the compositions of great vaggeyakaras are devotedly cherished leading to the appreciation of the songs in spiritual terms. It is only then that the combination of musical concepts and spirituality ensures the ennobling values of our musical heritage. Once the primacy of devotion in music is realised other values automatically seek fulfilment in the supreme spiritual plane.

Good music is an ascent from the gross to the subtle. It demands a gradual subordination of the peripheral to the lofty aspects. Even a casual listener would be impressed by the composite character of Carnatic music - the sangamam of spirituality and sangita.

The perennially fresh kritis of vaggeyakaras confer not only enjoyment, but more relevantly enlightenment. It is the lure of the former that has led many musicians to cling to the chaff. What is the true purpose of music - the solace of anubhava or the stimulation of excitement? A musician should be concerned about how his manodharma and modes of interpretation contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of anubhava. This would eliminate the inclination to rhetorical expression.

Many artistes are not very sure of what Carnatic music stands for. Music is not just about the sound of the sahityas, but the devotional emotions they embody. The contemplative role of sangita has to take over from the present trend of slickness of presentation. Over the years Carnatic music has gradually moved away from the Bhakti cult. So, as it is today, when music is divorced from the religio-philosophical ethos, it has become just an entertainment medium.

In every locality in the city Sri Rama Navami is attracting listeners to music concerts. The thoughts expressed earlier arose from hearing some of the recitals. One would expect that the aura of Sri Rama Navami would at least induce the artistes taking part to shift their minds from applause to musical anubhava. But habits die hard.

The vaggeyakaras have soared to the heights of sublime music with elegant simplicity of diction, with earnestness of devotion and spontaneity of divine sentiments. The songs during the Sri Rama Navami were rendered mechanically with very rare exceptions.

For the Asthika Samajam at Venus Colony, T.N. Krishnan provided a solo violin recital with melodic finesse in a kalapramana to sink deep into the hearts of listeners. He played creating a sense of reverie, particularly in the Sahana piece ``Vandanamu Raghunandana''. In choice phrases he captured the pensive appeal that goes with the raga and the song. The raga in slow movement rustled with cherubic charm. But the Todi alapana and the kriti ``Koluvamaregada'' were more energetic. If Sahana conferred emotional intensity Todi flourished on vibrancy. In both cases, the music expressions found aesthetic outlets. Earlier Sriranjani raga followed by the kriti ``Sogasuga-mridanga-talamu'' was marked by equanimity. Tiruvaroor Bhaktavatsalam (mridangam) Vaikom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam) and Kannan (morsing) curbed their exuberant proclivity to suit violin nada.

Straight approach

In the Sri Rama Navami series, Geetha Krishnamurthy provided veena music with great self-confidence. Bringing a straight approach to her interpretative technique the presentation of the kritis ``Swaminatha-paripalaya'' (Nattai) ``Marivere'' (Ananda Bhairavi) ``Appa Rama Bhakti'' (Pantuvarali) and ``Pakkala- Nelapadi'' (Karaharapriya) was indicative of the strides she has made in recent years. Of the raga alapanas Ananda Bhairavi and Karaharapriya stood out for perceptive phrasings highlighting their beauteous aspects. She nursed the alapanas with great care. Mohan Ram (mridangam) and Pudukottai Ramachandran (ghatam) lent their support without fanfare.

Perfect mix

At the conclusion of the launching of the tie-up between Sony Music and AVM Audio under the label Sony Naad, U. Srinivas gave a mandolin performance with characteristic tonal tints. He maintained the kritis ``Varana-mukhava'' (Hamsadhwani), ``Endaro- Mahanubhavulu'' (Sriraga Pancharatna) and ``Mohana Rama'' (Mohana) and swara profusion in good shape. It was a perfect mix of talent on his part and familiarity on the side of listeners. Control over the instrument to scale any melodic heights compelled audience attention. Palghat Raghu (mridangam) lent stupendous percussive support both during the kirtana and in his taniavar tanam in association with ghatam by T.V. Vasan, which throbbed with pulsating korvais. Earlier, both AVM and Sony presented video coverage in brief of their long years of achievement in the cause of music propagation.

Patantara purity

Artistry at the hands of R. Vedavalli was adherence to patantara purity. She strove to convey music is nothing but sampradaya. Dikshitar kritis lent scope for her to live up to her ideal. She gave a performance to mark Muthuswami Dikshitar day organised by Saraswathi Vaggeyakara Trust, Chennai.

Enjoyment of her performance, to some extent, was aided by the familiar songs she chose to present - ``Sri Mahaganapathi'' (Gowla) ``Manasa Guruguha'' (Ananda Bhairavi) ``Ekamranatham'' (Poorvikalyani) ``Sri Mathrubootham'' (Kannada) ``Kamalambike'' (Todi). Through the songs she was able to capture the musical perspective of Dikshitar. Poorvikalyani and Todi were taken up for alapana. It was not the sleight of voice that she depended on but anchored training in tradition.

Vedavalli's tempo was not such as to draw out the best from M.A. Krishnaswami whose style is normally propelled by vigour. Madirimangalam Swaminathan (mridangam) provided percussive liveliness.

- SVK

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